Henry Rush
| aliases = | series = Too Close for Comfort | image = | gender = | notability = | occupation = | base of operations = San Francisco, California Mill Valley, Marin County, California | known relatives = Muriel Rush Wife. Jackie Rush First daughter. Sara Rush Second daughter. Andrew Rush Son. | status = | born = 1929 Too Close for Comfort: Pilot; In the first episode, Henry states that he is 51-years-old. Presuming that the episode takes place in the same year in which it was first broadcast, this would mean he was born in 1929. | died = | 1st appearance = "Pilot" | final appearance = "Lisa Goes Lottery Loco" | actor = Ted Knight }} Henry Rush is a fictional cartoonist featured on the sitcom series Too Close for Comfort, which aired on ABC from 1980-1986. Played by actor Ted Knight, he was introduced in the pilot episode of the show and made 129 appearances on the series in total. Overview Henry Rush is a middle-aged cartoonist who lives in San Francisco, California. He owns a red two-story home where he lives with his wife Muriel, and his two grown daughters, Jackie and Sara, who live in the lower-half of the duplex. Henry is a comic strip cartoonist employed by Wainwright Publishing, though he maintains his studio at home. Henry's creation is the comic strip Cosmic Cow. He even has a Cosmic Cow puppet, which he uses as a pencil holder whenever he is drawing the strip. Occasionally, he will speak in Cosmic Cow's voice while working to amuse himself. Although he loves his family very much, Henry is easily frustrated, and becomes irritated whenever something challenges his conservative values. As such, Sara's effeminate friend, Monroe Ficus, exists as a perpetual thorn in Henry's side, despite the fact that the well-meaning young man always tries to get on Henry's good side. Biography Henry's work on the Cosmic Cow comic strip proved to be so successful that Wainwright Publishing optioned it out as a Saturday morning cartoon. Henry was ecstatic at first, for not only would his creation be on television, but it would also yield him more money. However, Henry did not care for the creative alterations the network intended on taking his comic strip and he backed out of the deal. Too Close for Comfort: Freddie Loves It, We Love It, You're Cancelled Soon after, Henry purchased a 49% stake in a newspaper publication called The Marin Bugler. Muriel, Andrew and he sold their San Francisco duplex and relocated to the town of Mill Valley in Marin County. Henry became the editor of the paper under majority partner, Hope Stinson. Stinson however, did not always see eye-to-eye with Henry on how to run the paper, leaving Henry to often regret his decision to get involved with it. Too Close for Comfort: Henry's Change of Life Notes & Trivia * * A recurring sight gag used on the series was Henry's reluctance to visit Jackie and Sara's apartment. Of particular challenge to him was there large, modern sofa, which was so plush that Henry always fell off of it when trying to sit down. * Actor Ted Knight is known for many memorable film and television roles such as playing Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore show as well as the voice of the narrator on the Super Friends animated series. * Playing the role of Henry Rush was Ted Knight's final work as an actor. Knight passed away on August 26th, 1986 at the age of sixty-two. * Ted Knight and Nancy Dussault (who plays Muriel Rush) are the only actors to appear in all 129 episodes of the series . * It's possible that Henry may have originally been born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was once seen wearing a Pittsburgh sweater, though this could just as likely have been a reference to a favored sports team. Too Close for Comfort: Lisa Goes Lottery Loco See also External Links * * * References ---- Category:Too Close for Comfort/Characters Category:1929/Character births Category:Ted Knight/Characters